WGN Authority Report: October 3rd

3 Oct , 2018

The last weeks of September have come and gone and with them quite a few major events. The London FACEIT Major came to a thrilling conclusion, the final 8 teams were locked in for upcoming Overwatch World Cup at Blizzcon and the NBA2K league held its first ever expansion draft as four new teams ready themselves for 2019. Let’s dive straight into it!

CS:GO FACEIT London Major

The third and final stage of this month-long event has finally come to a close and the champion has been crowned – Astralis were able to defeat Natus Vicere (NaVi) in the finals after both teams dominated their respective sides of the champions bracket.

Astralis and NaVi were both able to sweep the quarter and semi final rounds with relative ease making it clear they were the two best teams at this event, but the finals were just as one-sided. Reaching their peak form in the finals, Astralis delivered a dominant performance that was mesmerizing to witness. They were able to control the pace and play of the final series so well that NaVi was unable to even win more than 9 rounds in a match, winning only 15 in the final series combined. The victory makes them the current team to beat, and a strong favorite for the next Major taking place in Katowice February 14th through March 3rd.

All 8 teams that qualified for the champions stage of this tournament are automatically given Legend status for the Katowice Major. Teams that finished 9-14th are given New Challenger Status for that upcoming event.

Overwatch World Cup

The final qualifying round of the Overwatch World cup has come to a close and we now know that France and the United Kingdom will be the two final teams in the competition. This group was easily one of the most predictable all the way through with there being stark differences in the quality of play.

France was able to emerge from the group only losing a total of only two games in the process and neither of those losses came against the U.K. which was the only team they were truly concerned with. The U.K. found similar success only dropping a total of 5 games and they too swept the team directly below them in the standings – The Netherlands – to ensure they too would safely make it to Blizzcon.

This means the stage is now set for the 2019 World Championship taking place November 2nd and 3rd in Anaheim. While it isn’t confirmed which groups will be pitted against each other initially we do know the two groups of four that potential matchups will be drawn from:

The Top 4

South Korea

USA

China

France

The Bottom 4

NBA2K League

It’s been a while since we’ve gotten to talk 2K here on the Authority report but League finally held its first ever expansion draft meaning 8 players have found new homes as the four new teams begin to build their rosters.

The Hawks Talon GC were given the first pick in the draft and they used it to select DAT BOY SHOTZ previously of Blazer5 Gaming. The most shocking fact of this expansion draft was that Natekahl, the 2018 NBA2K League Finals MVP, was left up for grabs by the Knicks. The new NetsGC were quick to jump on that opportunity and select him 2nd overall in this expansion draft. To see the round by round selections, as well as the previous teams the players played for, check out the official 2K League 2019 Expansion Draft Board.

With the first trade period also underway teams have taken advantage of the window to make some moves that will shake things up in the coming season. The window opened on the 27th of September and will close on the 10th of October – teams will be allowed to make up to two trades in that time. It will be interesting to keep an eye on how this period unfolds as teams have currently been trading draft picks for quality pieces but it is still unclear how much talent will be remaining in the draft after so many of the world’s best were selected last year in the inaugural one.